


Ghosts

by martianwahtney



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, M/M, Maria Stark Lives, Maria Stark's A+ Parenting, Maria Stark's Good Parenting, Multi, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, eventual OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-01-13 14:52:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianwahtney/pseuds/martianwahtney
Summary: “I don’t trust him,” Matt said shortly.Next to him, Tony shrugged.“He’s cute!”On Tony’s other side, Rhodes sighed so hard that Matt felt it.“Matt you don’t even know him,” Tony added.“He always finds a way to be in the same room as you, I don’t have to know him to not trust him,” Matt shot back.“Maybe he thinks I’m cute,”“You are. But I doubt that’s his reason,” Matt replied, smirking as Tony’s heart beat audibly quickened.A series of events lead up to Tony Stark, Matt Murdock, and James Barnes at MIT. As expected, shenanigans ensue.square fill: gardening





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a little preview of the boys gathering at MIT

“That defies all logic, mamma,” Tony said, a crease forming on his forehead.  
  
“He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt bambino, I was,” Maria said, thumbs trying to soothe the crease.  
  
“There are other things to worry about now,” she reminded him.  
  
Tony nodded slowly.  
  
“Yea, I um- I don’t need my doctorate-”  
  
“I don’t want to hear about that bambino. You have been so happy with your studies. Finish your school. SI can wait,” she said.  
  
“But mamma!”  
  
“Consider it a requirement Antonio. You can take over SI when you have your doctorate degree,” she said with a sense of finality. Tony grabbed her hand and kissed it.  
  
Three days later the world watched Maria and Tony bury Howard Stark. Maria stood next to her son and thought only about Sergeant Barnes, the assassin that had been sent to kill them. She had sent him away, and she hoped she made the right call.  
“Mamma,” Tony said quietly.  
  
“Is it time bambino?” she asked.  
  
“Sì,”  
  
Arm in arm they quietly marched from the grave and toward the car that was waiting for them.  
  
Before Maria Stark went to sleep that night she sent a prayer to any god that was listening that Sergeant Barnes got the help he needed. It had been nearly 50 years since he fell off the tracks, she could see his face clear as day in her mind, still so very young. He deserved freedom from his captors. 

  
  


The Agent scrambled away from the Soldier. He had been on a rampage since December 16th and the Agent knew it was only a matter of time before the Soldier came breaking down his door.  
  
“желание!”  
  
Another step forward.  
  
“ржавый,”  
  
The Soldier crouched down in front of the agent, grey gaze icy.  
  
“печь,”  
  
Metal fingers gripped the book.  
  
“рассвет,”  
  
Grey gaze went slack, but the metal fingers didn’t leave the book. The agent drew in a shaky breath.  
  
“семнадцать, доброкачественный, девять, возвращение домой, один, грузовой вагон,”  
  
There was nothing but silence in the house. The agent was sure the Soldier could hear the beat of his frantic heart. The agent swallowed thickly, eyes darting around the room and eventually finding the TV where Tony Stark was mourning the murder death of his father.  
  
“Go find Tony Stark,” the man said, only concerned with getting the Soldier the fuck away from him. The Soldier stood, the book still clenched in metal fingers.  
  
“Just go,” the man pleaded.  
  
The Soldier turned and walked away, obviously accepting the orders. The man watched the Soldier walk away, a blood red book in his hand. He was so fucked. He should have let the Soldier kill him.

  
  


The Soldier had orders now. He had to go find Tony Stark. The son of the man he had just killed. He was also the son of the woman who had ordered him away. He remembered her clearly, blonde and disheveled and horrified all at once, she had stared at him and ordered him to go away and to take his life back. So he had gone as ordered, and he had killed the Agents that had hurt him, unsure how else to take his life back as she ordered.  
  
But those orders were done now.  
  
The Soldier paused for a fraction of a second when he stepped into the classroom. He had found his mark. Anthony Stark. But that was it. That was the only order he had been given, to find Tony Stark.  
  
A student pushed past the Soldier, prompting him to slide into the nearest seat. Perhaps it was a long term mission, he had to get to know the schedule of the Stark heir before more orders were to be given. 

  
  


Matt Murdock paused outside the engineering lab. He could hear someone inside- or at least he could hear the shredding guitars of Led Zeppelin. He figured it was the Stark heir working on his project.  
  
Before he could continue his walk around campus something caught his attention. A steady heartbeat threading its way around the building. Someone else was there. They were circling the building, and the only person in there was Tony Stark.  
  
Matt took a seat on the nearest bench, listening to the heartbeat and watching his world on fire. In the hour he sat there the heartbeat never made a move against the Stark kid. So finally Matt stood and walked back to his dorm, his cane clacking loudly as he went.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt Murdock becomes friends with Tony and James Rhodes in an effort to keep the Stark heir safe from his mysterious stalker.

It was a reoccurring thing that Matt noticed. Wherever Tony Stark was, the man was never too far behind. Or at least that’s what Matt assumed, he only was around Tony Stark in the dining hall or in the library, and so was the man. Matt never brought it up to Foggy as he didn’t want to alarm his friend- besides the man never got too close to Stark.  
  
But still Matt was curious as hell to what the man wanted with Stark. Perhaps if he befriended Stark it would deter the man from any nefarious plot he might have.  
  
That, of course, was how Matt found himself sitting next to Tony Stark (and across from Stark’s friend) at the library just a few short days later.  
  
Matt pulled out his books, flashed a charming smile in the vague direction of Stark and his friend before dragging his fingers across the bumps of his book.  
  
“So you’re blind,” Tony said after a few moments of silence.  
  
Rhodes dropped his head onto this textbook.  
  
“Well that sure would explain why this book is in Braille and I can’t see,” Matt shot back.  
  
With his forehead still pressed against this textbook, Rhodes snorted. Tony slumped farther down in his seat, a tiny pout forming on his lips.  
  
“I’m Matt Murdock,” Matt introduced, angling his body in Tony’s direction and offering the Stark heir his best smile.  
  
“Tony Stark,”  
  
His hands were rough and calloused.  
  
“That’s James Rhodes,” Tony added, taking Matt’s hand and dropping it on the back of Rhodey’s head.  
  
“Thanks,” Matt said slowly, retracting his hand.  
  
“Tones I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate you moving his hand,” Rhodey said, finally lifting his head from his textbook.  
  
“Just wanted to let him know where you were sourpatch,” Tony said cheerily.  
  
“I told you! I’m not-” Rhodes took a deep breath.  
  
“So, Matt, what are you studying?”  
  
“Law,”  
  
“So you’re going to be a lawyer,” Tony muttered.  
  
“Actually I was planning on becoming a psychologist,”  
  
“How-” Tony was cut off as Rhodes descended into laughter.  
  
“Jesus Tones,”  
  
“And you wonder why I call you sourpatch,” Tony shot back.  
  
For a while they worked in silence, occasionally broken up by frankly hilarious banter between Rhodes and Tony about something they were learning about in one of their many advanced math classes.  
  
“It’s fucking taquito Tuesday,” Rhodes said suddenly.  
  
“Oh shit,”  
  
“We gotta get in on that Rhodey,” Tony said.  
  
“You staying or coming?” it took Matt a moment to realize the question was directed at him.  
  
“Are they any good?” he asked as he shut his book.  
  
“They’re not amazing, Tones just likes bad food,”  
  
“Sourpatch please!” Tony whined as Matt laughed.  
  
They packed their backpacks up and stood. Matt could feel Tony’s frantic energy.  
  
“Do you need help? Should I-”  
  
“Tones,” Rhodes sighed gently, cutting Tony off.  
  
“Treat him like you treat me,”  
  
Matt tried to hide his grin.  
  
“Like I treat you?” Tony asked.  
  
Matt felt a calloused hand on his shoulder and turned his attention to Tony.  
  
“Wait-!”  
  
“I love you,” Tony said seriously, but Matt could hear the smile in his voice.  
  
“Good god,”  
  
“Is this how he acts with you?” Matt asked to Rhodes, amused with Tony’s antics. He was going to have a great time being Tony’s friend.  
  
“That was day two of our friendship,” Rhodes said dryly.  
  
Matt started laughing and gently brushed Tony’s hand off of his shoulder. The three set off toward the dining hall. Tony kept glancing at Matt. He was cute, all dark hair and blue eyes hidden behind a pair of red tinted glasses.  
  
Suddenly Matt seemed to slow down for just a moment, his head cocking to the side like he heard something. Tony glanced around, but whatever it was that Matt heard Tony didn’t see.  
  
“You good there Blind Justice?” Tony asked.  
  
“Tones do you ever think before you say things?” Rhodes asked as Matt snorted.  
  
“Not since I met you Platypus,”  
  
“Blind Justice?” Matt asked.  
  
“Well they say justice is blind and you’re blind,”  
  
“I’d like to apologize for him,” Rhodes said to Matt.  
  
“I don’t mind,” Matt said with a small smile.  
  
“Careful Murdock, you say that now but you’ll never get rid of him,” Rhodes warned.  
  
“Honey Bear you know I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to you,” Tony shot back, the dining hall finally coming into view.  
  
“Yea, yea,” Rhodes muttered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Rhodes sasses, Matt flirts, and Tony finally notices he's got a stalker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know how grammar works or how to use lay vs laid properly i'm sorry

Tony and Rhodes didn’t seem to mind that Matt joined their little friend group. Foggy was a little jealous but he had also found himself an interesting group of friends in his Punjabi class. Why Foggy chose Punjabi was something Matt would never really understand.  
  
The man still hovered near Tony, Matt started to consider it a vague inconvenience than something he should do something about. He had his school to focus on, not some dude who happened to be in the near vicinity of Tony Stark at all times.  
  
He usually only got to hang around Tony and Rhodes when they were all in the library as Matt was pre-law and they weren’t.  
  
“I’m just saying it could be my doctorate thesis,”  
  
“Star Wars, really?” Rhodes asked dryly.  
  
“How are you in a doctorate program?” Matt asked suddenly, he had assumed that Tony was in a masters program, not in a doctorate.  
  
Tony stopped his very serious, in depth discussion about the level of technology in Star Wars and how he could make that his doctorate project.  
  
“Well, I graduated with my masters at 17 because I fast tracked my bachelors degree and my masters, and now I’m fast tracking this,” Tony said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
“How do you fast track a doctorate program?” Matt asked.  
  
“Same way I do everything!”  
  
“Sheer stupidity,” Rhodes threw out.  
  
“Thanks platypus,”  
  
“What’s your project?”  
  
“AI,” Tony said.  
  
“Artificial Intelligence?” Matt demanded.  
  
“I’ve already made a learning bot and I want to take it a step further, so far it’s not the easiest thing I’ve ever done,”  
  
“A what?”  
  
“A robot with rudimentary learning capabilities,” Tony said.  
  
“He’s my godson,” Rhodes announced.  
  
“He’s a brat. I’ll take you to meet him someday,” Tony offered.  
  
“Alright,”

  
  


The Soldier eyed the man next to Stark. He was new. The Soldier wasn’t sure why he had started to hover around Stark, but it didn’t mess with his orders.  
  
The man was Matthew Murdock, he had been blinded in an accident when he was a young boy, his father had been a boxer who killed himself, leaving the blind Matthew in the hands of the church. He was at MIT on full scholarship with his friend Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, both of them studying law.  
  
All logic told the Soldier that Murdock was harmless, but something about him made the Soldier weary. There was something off with him.

  
  


“Tones you know how you’re usually really good at picking up tails?” Rhodes asked conversationally.  
  
“Dude with dark hair,” Tony responded just as casually.  
  
“Noticed him last week. He’s in all my classes,”  
  
Matt tilted his head to the side.  
  
“He’s at your five o’clock,” Tony said to him.  
  
It was the same man Matt noticed. He was going to have to bring up that he also knew the man was tailing Tony, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to do that.  
  
“Think I’ve noticed him too,”  
  
His confession was met with silence.  
  
“His voice. I’ve heard it a few times,” Matt lied.  
  
“Super hearing,” Tony whispered excitedly.  
  
“He’s in all your classes?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“Every one,”  
  
“Do you think that’s a coincidence?”  
  
“I’m not sure,” Tony admitted.  
  
“At what point does it not a coincidence?” Matt asked.  
  
“How often I notice him… I guess,”  
  
Matt kept his mouth shut, not quite ready to let either of them know how extensive his hearing really was.  
  
He lay in wait for nearly two weeks while Tony and Rhodes made comments about how often they saw the man. Rhodes was becoming increasingly alarmed at how often the man was near Tony, Tony- however- didn’t seem that bothered.  
  
“I don’t trust him,” Matt said shortly.  
  
Next to him, Tony shrugged.  
  
“He’s cute!”  
  
On Tony’s other side, Rhodes sighed so hard that Matt felt it.  
  
“Matt you don’t even know him,” Tony added.  
  
“He always finds a way to be in the same room as you, I don’t have to know him to not trust him,” Matt shot back.  
  
“Maybe he thinks _I’m_ cute,”  
  
“You are. But I doubt that’s his reason,” Matt replied, smirking as Tony’s heart beat audibly quickened.  
  
“Tones, you know he can’t-”  
  
“Well obviously I’m so cute it transcends blindness honey bear!”  
  
Matt laughed, throwing a smile in Tony’s direction. Once again, Tony’s heartbeat quickened.  
  
“Besides, it’s the end of the semester right? If he’s back in all my same classes next semester then we’ll know for sure if he’s up to something,” Tony said with a nonchalant shrug.  
  
“How does this _not_ bother you?”  
  
“I’m a Stark, I’m used to people following me,” Tony said.  
  
His words seemed a little more forced, like he was still struggling to get comfortable with what he just said.  
  
“What classes are you taking next semester?” Tony asked.  
  
“Considering I want to be a lawyer I was looking at biology courses,”  
  
“Looking huh?” Tony shot back.  
  
Matt almost choked on his laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: this is a winterirondevil story  
> also me: euheuheueheueh lets make it about tony, rhodes, and matt for 10 years without focusing on the winter part


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally get a lead on who the stalker is, and they go a little too far down the rabbit hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> literally posted this without a fucking summary why

_What if there are no more orders?_ The thought haunted the Soldier. He didn’t know what to do without orders. He had been tailing the Stark heir for almost a whole semester, he knew Starks friends, Starks usual schedule- both personal and academic- he knew everything about the guy. And still there were no orders.  
  
He didn’t particularly care for the classes Stark was taking. He wanted to take other classes. If he wasn’t going to have any other orders, then there was nothing stopping him from distancing himself from Stark. He had completed the mission, he had found Stark, all he had to do was make sure he knew (generally) where Stark was. His handlers couldn’t fault him for that.  
  
Stark had gone home for part of the summer, and then spent the rest of the summer at the Rhodes household. And where Stark went, the Soldier followed. He took down all his notes in a black notebook, he was always careful to avoid the red one he had stolen from the HYDRA Agent. He didn’t like that book.  
  
He managed to get into the class rosters and put his name down for the classes he thought were most interesting. Since he had no handlers to give him orders, and since he hadn’t been wiped in nearly 5 months, he was starting to remember more. That included his name- James Buchanan- something he was very proud of.  
  
He glanced at his schedule a few times to commit it to memory. History classes, an art class, ASL, and a gardening class. They seemed much better than the math ones that Stark seemed to favor.

  
  


Tony was unreasonably nervous for the first day of his classes. He knew if he saw the man then Matt was right and he was going to have a serious problem on his hands. He didn’t like people following him, he liked it even less when he didn’t know what the fuck they wanted.  
  
He went through all his classes, he usually sat near the front, and triple checked to make sure the man wasn’t in his class. He did so for the first week, making absolute sure the man wasn’t there.  
  
“He’s not in my classes,” Tony announced as he joined Matt at their usual table in the library.  
  
“Yet he still manages to be in the library when you are,” Matt shot back as the man walked into the library.  
  
“How in the hell-”  
  
“I want to know what he wants,” Matt said, cutting Tony off.  
  
“Go ask him,” Rhodes said like it was obvious.  
  
Matt could feel the uneasy look Tony shot him. He felt the same, regardless of what the man did, he was dangerous.  
  
“I can’t just bother him honey pot! He’s working so hard on his ASL,” Tony said.  
  
“So you’re going to let him tail you without asking what’s up?”  
  
There was that uneasiness again. Tony shrugged his shoulders, movements jerky. 

  
  


“His name is James Buchanan,” Rhodey said one day as he sat down at their usual table.  
  
“You talked with him?”  
  
“I may have snuck a peak at his notebook while he was up looking for books,” Rhodes said.  
  
“I’ll let J know, see if he can dig up anything,”  
  
“J?” Matt questioned.  
  
“AI, named him after Edwin Jarvis,” Tony said.  
  
“Isn’t James Buchanan the name of a president?”  
  
Both Tony and Rhodey shrugged.  
  
“I’m not going to be able to get any work done. I wanna know what’s up this this guy,” Tony closed his textbook with a heavy thud.  
  
Matt slowly followed suit, shutting his book and pushing it into his bookbag. He followed Tony and Rhodes to the engineering lab. It was messy, and loud, and the robot called Dum-E was very excitable.  
  
“Alright J I need you to do some work for me,” Tony said aloud.  
  
“ _Sir?_ ”  
  
Matt hadn’t been expecting a British voice.  
  
“There’s a student here named James Buchanan, I need to know what’s up with him. He’s been following me for over a semester now,”  
  
“ _Yes, sir,_ ”  
  
“I’m still working on his vocal abilities,” Tony explained.  
  
“That’s amazing,” Matt told him.  
  
“One day he’s going to help me run SI,”

  
  


The next few days felt tense. All three of them were waiting to know what JARVIS found out about the man.  
  
“It’s been two days, that means he found something right?”  
  
“J’s thorough, he’s double checking his work,” Tony muttered, his fingers tapping rapidly on the table.  
  
“But it means he’s found something, right?”  
  
“Maybe? I haven’t asked him to do this much work before. He’s probably figuring things out,”  
  
“It is a really good test of his capabilities, when you write this up lie and say he was researching me,” Rhodes said.  
  
“Good idea honey pot,”  
  
Across the room the printer beeped. The three of them stilled.  
  
“I would go get it but I can’t read,” Matt said.  
  
It seemed to break up a bit of the tension as Tony actually laughed at Matt’s remark. He crossed the room and grabbed the paper that JARVIS had printed out for them.  
  
“Did you hook him up to the printer?” Rhodes asked suddenly.  
  
“No,”  
  
“He’s going to take over the world Tones,”  
  
“He’s not going to go Skynet on us, calm down,” Tony muttered as he glanced at the shockingly little amount of information JARVIS gathered on the man.  
  
“He… he has no history,” Tony announced, looking at the one page of information JARVIS had for him.  
  
“What?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“There’s nothing. He just… appeared at MIT last semester,”  
  
“Shit,”  
  
“So this isn’t just some casual stalker then,” Tony murmured.  
  
“Either he has someone on his side to put his name on the roster, or he has the skill to do it himself,” Rhodes pointed out.  
  
“What happens now?” Matt asked.  
  
“I don’t know,” Tony admitted.  
  
“What if it’s SHIELD?” Rhodes asked suddenly.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Well… what if they’re trying to keep tabs on you after the crash?”  
  
“What’s SHIELD?” Matt asked.  
  
“Super secret organization that Howard helped found,” Tony said. He ran his hand through his hair. His father had been known to keep tabs on him, maybe this was his way of keeping tabs on Tony after his death.  
  
“I… shit,” he said.  
  
He sat down at his computer and clicked his tongue a few time. He really didn’t want to hack into a company that his father had helped found, or one that his Aunt Peggy was the Director of, but he had to know if the man was SHIELD.  
  
“J, I know you’re going to disapprove but I think we need to hack into SHIELD,”  
  
“ _Very well, sir,_ ”  
  
“You’re going to hack into a government organization?” Matt hissed.  
  
“Done it before,”  
  
“On a dare,” Rhodes added.  
  
Matt listened to Tony type away, making frustrated noise after frustrated noise. He had a sinking feeling that Tony wasn’t going to find a single thing on Buchanan.  
  
“There’s some weird Russian shit. Is the- creepy red notebook- Cold War still a thing? I thought we were past that” he muttered, there were a few more clicks and another heavy sigh.  
  
“Nothing,” Tony murmured.  
  
“There’s not a single fucking thing about James Buchanan,”  
  
“Great,”  
  
“What now?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“We could try talking to him,” Tony suggested.  
  
“If he’s spying on you he’s not going just up and tell you why,” Matt said.  
  
“Well this fucking sucks,”

  
  


Tony thought it was frankly ridiculous he couldn’t figure out who the man was or what he wanted. He wasn’t used to hitting so many dead ends but there was nothing at all on James Buchanan. He was a god damn ghost. Tony hated it. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he spent his time working on JARVIS, hanging out with Rhodes and Matt, and flirting with Matt.  
  
Sometimes he thought Matt was flirting right back which made him feel tongue tied. 

  
  


“Hey Tones,” Rhodes started lowly.  
  
“Yea sugar pot?”  
  
“Turn around,”  
  
The tone in Rhodey’s voice made Matt nervous. Tony shifted his his seat.  
  
“The…”  
  
Tony shifted again, turning back to Rhodes.  
  
“That’s the fucking notebook,”  
  
The three scrambled to put their things back in their bags and all but ran back to Tony’s lab. Once again Tony and JARVIS hacked their way into SHIELD’s databases.  
  
“There! Red with black star,”  
  
“What is it?” Matt asked.  
  
“This… this is high clearance stuff. Alpha level,” Tony muttered.  
  
“What does that mean?”  
  
“That means Aunt Peggy and maybe three others know about this,”  
  
“A notebook? Really that’s Alpha level clearance?”  
  
“I mean… I guess. It’s Russian… J, can you translate?”  
  
There was a moment of silence as JARVIS made an attempt to translate the words on the screen.  
  
“ _The notebook is used to keep the Winter Soldier under control,_ ” JARVIS told them.  
  
“What the hell is the Winter Soldier?” Rhodes asked.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony confronts his stalker and his feelings

“So your stalker is an assassin,” Rhodes stated.  
  
“Weird that he hasn’t killed me,”  
  
“Must be a shitty assassin,”  
  
Tony almost choked on his coffee. There hadn’t been a lot on the Winter Soldier. He was an assassin who worked for the Russians and they used the red book to control him. The only problem was that the Soldier- James?- had the book now and very clearly wasn’t murdering anyone.  
  
“He has the book,” Rhodes pointed out.  
  
“Which either means the Russians got careless… or he’s not under their control anymore,” Matt said.  
  
“Maybe we should actually talk with him,” Tony suggested.  
  
“Tones,”  
  
“He had countless opportunities to kill me, ok? He’s done nothing but follow me around. Whatever he’s up to I really don’t think it’s going to be murder,”

  
  


“So you’ve been following me since last semester,” Tony said by way of greeting.  
  
James looked like a deer caught in headlights. Tony tried to ignore that he was a million times more gorgeous up close than far away. This man _killed_ people.  
  
“Do you prefer James Buchanan or the Winter Soldier?” Tony asked, not bothering to play any games. All he wanted to do was make sure James wasn’t going to try and kill him.  
  
Tony watched James’ gloved hand twitch toward his backpack, no doubt where the red notebook was.  
  
“I’m not one of them… whoever they are. I just want to know if you’re planning on killing me or not,”  
  
Jerkily he shook his head.  
  
“Just find you,” James said, refusing to meet Tony’s gaze.  
  
Tony looked across the library to Rhodes and Matt. They were both aiming for nonchalance and missed by a mile.  
  
“Ok,” Tony said at last.  
  
“You should burn that book. The red one,” he said suddenly.  
  
He pushed himself out of the chair and returned to his friends.  
  
“And _you_ didn’t trust him,” Tony mused, plopping down next to Matt.  
  
“I still don- Tony! He’s an assassin!” Matt snapped.  
  
“Ooh big scary assassin has been taking workshop and art classes,” Tony mocked.  
  
“Then what is he doing here?”  
  
“He has orders to find me,”  
  
Matt dropped his head on top of the workshop table. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he sighed.  
“Tony,”  
“He was just told to find me, not kill me or anything,”  
  
“What if he’s lying to you?”  
  
He could feel the look Tony was giving him, pricking his skin, unable to pay attention to anything but Tony.  
  
“You would know,” Tony said teasingly.  
  
“Human lie detector,”  
  
Matt rolled his eyes.  
  
“Just because I know when you’re lying…” Matt replied.  
  
“Which does beg the question, how _do_ you tell? I’m usually a phenomenal liar,” Tony said.  
  
“Your heart rate, the way your breath hitches,” Matt replied.  
  
Tony sat back in his chair.  
  
“He takes _gardening_ classes,” Tony added.  
  
“And that’s supposed to make him less threatening?” Matt shot back.  
  
“Matt! Honey! Please. He tends to flowers,”  
  
Matt shifted in his chair, trying his best to feign nonchalance at the pet name. He felt his cheeks warm up in a traitorous blush.  
  
“We should be his friend,”  
  
“That’s literally the dumbest idea you’ve ever had,”  
  
“That’s a damn lie and you know it,” Tony replied. Nudging his knee against Matt’s.

  
  


James glanced around, he felt unjustly paranoid that somebody was going to stop him. There was a fire burning in the trashcan in front of him and all he had to do was toss the Red Book in it. He had already killed a majority of his handlers, he didn’t think anyone else knew the words by heart. Once he burned the book he was free.  
  
He pulled the book from his jacket, blood red cover and a black star. He brushed his metal thumb over it and let it fall into the fire. He stared at the book until it crumbled to ash. He watched the fire die and the embers smolder. The deed was done, the book was gone and he could move on with his life, try to figure out who he was before HYDRA stole him and scrambled his mind.  
  
It was well past midnight by the time he returned to MIT. He didn’t return to his dorm, instead he opted to tend to the plants he was growing for one of his classes. His enjoyment of gardening had come as a surprise. The day he had seen the little green sprout of his plant he had nearly cried. For so long he had been nothing but an instrument of murder, yet here he was… growing a plant… growing life. His little plant would grow to be a marigold flower, according to their professor it was the easiest to grow. He was going to cherish the little flower for the rest of his life.

  
  


“He can hear my heartbeat!” Tony groaned, flopping down on Rhodey’s bed.  
  
“Ok,”  
  
“Wait what?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“Matt,” Tony whined like it was obvious.  
  
Rhodes didn’t respond immediately, he never did when Tony got all whiny on him.  
  
“Why is that a problem?” he asked at last.  
  
“Honey pot think!”  
  
“Tones,”  
  
Tony rolled over so he was on his back, staring up at the popcorn ceiling.  
  
“I like him. My heart beats faster and he can hear it. Which means… he knows,” Tony said, each word sounding more painful than the last.  
  
“You like him?” Rhodes asked, a shit eating grin on his face. Tony lifted his head to look at Rhodes. Rhodes managed to school the expression on his face into a more curious one, just to keep Tony talking about his feelings.  
  
“Yes. I like him. Like… like like him,” Tony grumbled, dropping his head back on the bed.  
  
“Tell him,” Rhodes suggested.  
  
“I can’t just tell him I like him! I’ll look like an idiot!”  
  
Rhodes let out a long suffering sigh.  
  
“Tell him, Tones,”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where Tony gets a boyfriend, a new friend, and then a second boyfriend

“What’s with the cat ate the canary smile?” Rhodey asked when Tony and Matt sat at their usual table in the library.  
  
“I told him,” Tony said, the smile on his face only growing.  
  
“You what?” Rhodes demanded.  
  
“Actually, what he said was ‘I know you know I like you so why haven’t you asked me out yet?’,” Matt said to Rhodes.  
  
“Holy shit,”  
  
“So now we’re dating,”  
  
“Unbelievable,”  
  
“You’re the one that told me to talk to him,” Tony reminded him.  
  
“How is this the one time you actually take my advice?” Rhodes asked.  
  
Tony shrugged, a grin on his face. 

  
  


“He looks familiar,” Rhodes commented.  
  
Tony glanced up at his friend to find him looking at something behind Tony, which meant James was there.  
  
“Well yea he’s my stalker,”  
  
Rhodes clicked his tongue.  
  
“Other than that stupid,”  
  
Tony gave an uncaring shrug.  
  
“I told you, we should be his friend,”  
  
“What is it with your obsession with being his friend?” Matt asked, nudging his knee against Tony’s. It had been nearly a week since they started dating and Tony was still thrilled about it.  
  
“Oh my god you’re like that tabloid. I married my stalker,” Rhodes cackled.  
  
“I’m literally dating Matt. Two whole dates isn’t that right honey? We’ve even su-”  
  
Rhodes shoved a handful of fries in Tony’s face, just to get him to shut up as Matt choked on his laughter.  
  
“Do you have a filter?” Matt asked.  
  
“Not really,”  
  
Matt shook his head, a smile on his face.  
  
“I hope you’re not expecting anything from me, he’s your boyfriend,” Rhodes watched in amusement as they both turned bright red.  
  
“Fuck this,” Tony muttered.  
  
He pushed himself away from the table and headed toward James. Rhodes and Matt watched (listened) intently.  
  
“I can’t hear them,” Matt stated, a small frown on his lips.  
  
“That’s because they’re signing,” Rhodes said.  
  
“When’d he learn to do that?”  
  
“He’s full of surprises- oh shit,”  
  
Tony was coming back with James in tow.  
  
“We all know James, right?” Tony introduced as he sat back down.  
  
Slowly James sat down on Tony’s other side. Something about him didn’t sound quite right. A whirring noise that generally didn’t make any sense.  
  
“What’s that noise?” he asked.  
  
“What noise?”  
  
“The mechanical one,”  
  
James shifted uncomfortably.  
  
“‘S me,” he said quietly, voice low and raspy.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“The arm is real?” Tony hissed in surprise.  
  
“What arm?”  
  
“The SHIELD files mentioned a metal arm, but it was like once so we figured it was some bad intel,”  
  
James pulled up his glove to show off a bit of his metal arm, the plates shifted as he moved.  
  
“That’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Tony whispered.  
  
“You’re so lucky I’m an engineer,” Tony added.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“So I can fix it! We were so meant to know each other,”  
  
James looked at Rhodes, obviously quite alarmed at Tony’s reaction to the arm.  
  
“He has poor self-preservation instincts,” Rhodes said.  
  
“I can tell,”

  
  


James found he liked having friends- or at least he liked that Tony, Matt, and Rhodes were his friends. They were, quite frankly, ridiculous but he enjoyed them. The day his first flower bloomed he must have gushed about it for ten minutes and they listened to him. No one else in his life had ever done that- at least not that he remembered. He felt like he finally had a place in the world. 

  
  


“So when are you going to tell James you like him?” Matt asked.  
  
Tony glanced up from his computer. Matt was sitting next to him, some Law book on the table in front of him.  
  
“Whenever you do,” Tony shot back.  
  
“Who said I-”  
  
“You’re so full of shit Murdock, I see those cute smiles on your face whenever he gushes about gardening. Give it up, we both like him,” Tony said, his heartbeat was faster than normal. He was nervous.  
  
“You going to be as blut with him as you were with me?” Matt asked.  
  
“Probably,”  
  
Matt grinned and shook his head. Tony watched him for a moment before turning his attention back to the code on his computer. He was working on fine tuning aspects of JARVIS’s code. He loved his sassy little AI.  
  
“I’m heading back to my dorm,” Matt announced some time later.  
  
“Want me to walk you?”  
  
“I’ll be ok,” Matt assured him. He bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of Tony’s head.  
  
“See you tomorrow,”  
  
“Later honey,”  
  
The next time Tony surfaced from his work it was midnight. He saved his work, said goodnight to JARVIS, and headed for his apartment.  
  
“When’d you get home last night?” Rhodes asked when Tony joined them in the library.  
  
“Little after midnight,” Tony said.  
  
It didn’t take long for Matt to join them, and soon after that James joined them. His hair was up in a bun which made Tony’s stomach do funny things.  
  
“Damn,” Tony said aloud.  
  
“Tones,”  
  
“I’m just saying the bun is a good look for him,” Tony said, hands up in a gesture of innocence.  
  
“You’re flirting with an assassin in front of your boyfriend,” Rhodes stared dryly.  
  
“Matt thinks he’s cute too,” Tony said, not bothering to look away from James.  
  
Matt dropped his head on the desk. For someone who was supposedly an assassin, James got bright red and visibly flustered. Matt’s head shot off the desk, a smirk on his face.  
  
“I think he thinks we’re both cute,”  
  
James made a noise of distress, burying his head in his hands.  
  
“What the hell,” Rhodes breathed.  
  
“I think we just got ourselves a new boyfriend,”  
  
“Tones what it he's homophobic,”  
  
James jerked his head back and shook his head, still flustered.  
  
“Jus’ don’ know how t’ do this anymore,” he gestured vaguely to Tony and Matt.  
  
“We got time, Frosty Freeze,”  
  
“There it is,”  
  
James glances at Rhodes.  
  
“You’re in it for life now. You’ve got your own little nickname and everything,”  
  
James really liked the sound of that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter break at Stark Mansion

“This is the worst,” Tony grumbled, folding the last of Matt’s clothes.  
  
“Dramatic,” Matt said fondly.  
  
“You’re going back to Hell’s Kitchen, I’m stuck with _him_ all break-”  
  
“Hey!” Rhodes protested.  
  
“And I don’t even know where the hell James is going,” Tony finished with a pout.  
  
James barley glanced up, too consumed with his examination of Matt’s Braille books.  
  
“You good Tasty Freeze?”  
  
“You can just read this?”  
  
“Well he’s blind sweetheart, can’t read any other way,” Tony teased.  
  
James tossed the book in Tony’s direction, the book sailed past Tony and toward Matt who seemed to dodge it.  
  
James, Tony, and Rhodes looked at each other, eyes wide. Matt sat back up with a pair of pants in his grasp. Had he really dodged it? Or was he just grabbing pants?  
  
“Are you staying with Rhodes the whole break?” Matt asked.  
  
“For most of it at least. Mamma is doing something in Japan and I don’t think she can make it home,” Tony said.  
  
“I might go home for a few days, but no-” Tony cut off suddenly, a frown taking over his face before he beamed.  
  
“New plan! We’ll go to the Manor. Mama is in Japan, and I told her I’d be with Rhodes so it’s an empty house. Plus Mama has a garden that you can tend to,” Tony added to James.  
  
“We’re just going to hang out in your Manor all break?” Matt asked.  
  
“Is that a no there Matt?”  
  
Matt scoffed and shoved a shirt into the suitcase in front of him.  
  
“No,”  
  
Tony beamed.  
  
“S’long as I can garden,” James drawled.  
  
“So I’m going to spend the whole break fourth wheeling?” Rhodes asked dryly.  
  
“Platypus never! If anything they’ll be the ones third and fourth wheeling,” Tony said dramatically.  
  
Matt snorted.  
  
“Dunno why you’re laughin’, you’re the fourth wheel,” James said to Matt.

  
  


“This is going to be great, we’ll have the whole Manor to ourselves,” Tony said excitedly as they managed to shove into James’ tragically small car.  
  
“So long as we survive the drive to the Manor,” Rhodes muttered.  
  
“What’s one small car between three boyfriends and their best friend?” Tony crooned.  
  
“Dear god,”  
  
The drive to Stark Manor wasn’t all that bad, Tony had burned a couple of cd’s for the trip and for all the shit Matt, James, and Rhodes gave him, they all seemed to have a great time singing along to Tony’s music.  
  
James pulled to a stop in front of the Manor gate and for a few moments the car was silent. He leaned out of the car and punched in Tony’s code.  
  
“Excuse the _hell_ out of me,” Tony started.  
  
“Perks of stalking you,”  
  
“You followed me home?”  
  
“Tony you didn’t give him a single direction this whole time,” Matt said.  
  
Tony opened his mouth to protest but he was right. He hadn’t had to give a single direction to James the entire drive.  
  
“Creepy,” Tony said as the gate creaked open.  
  
James shrugged. He parked the car in front of the Manor and they all stumbled out of the warm car and into the cold evening.  
  
“Let’s get the fuck inside,” Rhodes said.  
  
“I assume Sneak-ssassin here has a spare key,” Tony teased.  
  
“That woul’ require _you_ havin’ a key that I coul’ steal,” James shot back.  
  
Matt laughed.  
  
“Lucky for both of you I carry one,” Rhodes said as he jangled a key in their general direction.  
  
They pulled their suitcases from the car and lugged them inside. The Manor was cold, as no one was currently living in it, Tony was going to have to fix that.  
  
“Let me get the heat on and I can show you to your rooms,” Tony said.  
  
“I can do that, just get this place warmed up,” Rhodes said.  
  
“You got it honeypot,”

  
  


An hour later the four of them were in the living room, eating a monumental amount of fast food while a Christmas movie played on the TV. Tony couldn’t think of a better way to spend the break.  
  
The next day they went shopping for food and filled up the pantry in the Manor. The sheer amount of food they had led them to a friendly competition of which team could make the best cookies. Matt and Tony teamed up while James and Rhodes teamed and called themselves James Squared.  
  
“Still think we won,” Tony said petulantly as A Christmas Story started to play.  
  
“Sure Tones,” Rhodes teased.  
  
Matt kissed the top of Tony’s head.  
  
“I think you won too doll,” James said.  
  
“What happened to James Square?” Rhodes demanded, faux outrage.  
  
“He’s got bambi eyes,”  
  
Tony stuck his tongue out at Rhodes.

  
  


The next day found Matt, Tony, and James in the lab. Rhodes was catching up on his sleep.  
  
Matt easily slid around the mess on the floor, his cane was nowhere in sight. James and Tony glanced at each other, identical expressions of confusion on their faces. Tony recalled the way Matt had seemingly dodged the wayward book back in his dorm. It was the second time something like that had happened.  
  
“Matt! Heads up,” James lobbed a paper ball in Matt’s direction and shockingly, Matt caught it.  
  
The entire room seemed to freeze.  
  
“Blind Justice,” Tony said, wonder in his voice.  
  
“I can explain,”  
  
“I hope so,”  
  
Matt managed to stumble through the whole thing, the chemicals, Stick, the enhanced senses, the fighting, the whole shebang.  
  
“I knew it,” James said.  
  
“Bullshit,”  
  
“I did! He made me nervous! Not many people can make the Winter Soldier nervous, doll,” James pointed out.  
  
Tony looked like he was going to respond but instead he turned to Matt.  
  
“How long’d you know about him?”  
  
“Weeks,” Matt admitted.  
  
“Heard him sneak around the lab, and I got curious. Kept hearing him near you so I decided to intervene. I didn’t think he was going to do anything, he was just near you so I didn’t think it was pressing information,” Matt explained.  
  
“‘Go find Tony Stark’ were my orders, verbatim,” James muttered.  
  
“And how were we supposed to know that Mr. Stalky Soldier Man?” Tony teased.  
  
Matt snorted.  
  
“Tony I gotta weird clankin’ sound in here, can you help me out?” James asked, gesturing to his arm.  
  
Tony lit up and vaulted across the lab to get to James.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peggy and Maria make an unscheduled visit to Stark Mansion and find out about James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _shows up two months late with starbucks_ lmao sorry i just,,,,,,,, forgot

Christmas came and went, they spent it watching Christmas movies and drinking spiked eggnog. So far it had been a great vacation and they had three more weeks to go.  
  
“Ready?” Tony asked.  
  
James have a short nod, brows furrowed.  
  
“Just sock sliding,” Tony reminded him.  
  
“I know. Jus’ gotta make sure I go farther than you,” he said with a smirk.  
  
Tony feigned insult which was only soothed when James pressed a kiss to the side of his head.  
  
“Go on doll,” James said, completely aware of the effect he had on Tony.  
  
Tony took a running start and stopped at the third window, he slid right into to foyer, skidding to a halt right in front of-  
  
“Aunt Peggy! Mama!”  
  
He beamed at both of them before realization struck. Peggy was the Director of SHIELD. He was housing the Winter Soldier. Before he could panic, however, he realized that Peggy had never seen the Winter Soldier sans mask and goggles. Tony could tell a few white lies and she would be none the wiser.  
  
James slid to a halt just in front of Tony- beating him by a mere inch. The wild grin on his face fell as he caught sight of Peggy and Maria.  
  
“Tony?” he sounded spooked.  
  
“Sergeant Barnes?” both Peggy and Maria demanded.  
  
James took half a step back.  
  
“I… I told you to leave us alone, to take your life back...” Maria said, her voice shaking.  
  
“You knew he was alive?” Peggy asked, turning to Maria.  
  
“Why wouldn’t he be alive?” Tony asked, but neither his mother or godmother seemed to hear him.  
  
Tony looked at James, his boyfriend looked stricken. What in the name of hell was going on? Why did James look so spooked? Why did his mother know who he was? Why did Peggy know who he was? Why did they call him Sergeant Barnes when his name was James Buchanan?  
  
“Sergeant James B-”  
  
Tony looked at his boyfriend again.  
  
“Holy shit,”  
  
James Buchanan Barnes was the Winter Soldier. It certainly explained why Peggy knew who he was. But it didn’t explain why his mother-  
  
_I told you to leave us alone_.  
  
There was a reason that Tony found the car accident funky. It wasn’t a car accident, it never was. It was an assassination. Someone had sent the Winter Soldier to kill Howard and Maria, and for whatever reason he had left Maria alive.  
  
“Oh shit,” Tony whispered, glancing at his mom and aunt.  
  
“Maria, how do you know this?” Peggy asked.  
  
His boyfriend had been sent to kill his parents.  
  
“He killed Howard. Didn’t he?”  
  
The silence was the only answer he needed.  
  
“ _What_?” Peggy hissed.  
  
No one seemed to want to say anything for a few moments. Tony turned to look at James, he was staring at the floor, face drawn.  
  
“What is it you three know that you’re not telling me?” Peggy demanded.  
  
“I… I’m the Winter Soldier,” James said quietly, holding up his metal hand for Peggy and Maria to see.  
  
“I got sent to kill Howard and Maria and steal something from them. Maria sent me away before I could complete my mission,”  
  
“I don’t understand,” Peggy said plainly.  
  
“Sometimes orders stick. She told me to take my life back, and that’s what I did. I went out and killed anyone who had ever given me an order. One of them had the book and ordered me to find Tony. So that’s what I did… went to find him,” James said, he looked so miserable, admitting to everything he had done.  
  
“The book? The red one?” Peggy asked.  
  
James nodded slowly.  
  
“I burned it,”  
  
For a few long moments they were all silent, soaking in the flood of information.  
  
“How did you know about him Tony?” Maria asked.  
  
Peggy tilted her head to the side, curious as well.  
  
“I hacked into SHIELD,” he said quickly.  
  
He saw her lips twitch like she wanted to smile but she managed to keep the Disapproving Expression on her face.  
  
“You hacked into SHIELD, figured out who he was, and then you kept it to yourself?”  
  
“Good summary,”  
  
“Anthony,” she sighed.  
  
“It’s not like he was hurting anybody Aunt Peggy! He had the book! We figured he couldn’t be dangerous if he had the book,” Tony said.  
  
Peggy narrowed her eyes.  
  
_Oh shit_.  
  
“RHODES!”  
Slowly Rhodes shuffled into the room, looking equal parts scared and furious that Tony had (accidentally) thrown him under the bus.  
  
“Ma’am-”  
  
“You are Air Force ROTC and you’re telling me you didn’t recognize James Buchanan Barnes when he was standing right in front of you?”  
  
Rhodes whipped around to face James. As with Peggy, Tony saw the moment it all connected in his honey bears mind.  
  
“I told you he looked familiar!”  
  
“I thought it was because he was my stalker not because he’s Captain America’s bestie from 19-fucking-45,” Tony shot back.  
  
“1945?” James whispered.  
  
“Oh god,”  
  
“You… my god you don’t know who you are, do you?” Peggy asked.  
  
James shook his head slowly. Peggy looked like she’d just been slapped.  
  
“Do you recognize me?” she asked.  
  
James made a so-so gesture with his metal hand. Peggy looked crushed for a few moments before she worked the expression off her face.  
  
“Anything else we need to know?” she asked.  
  
Tony shared a look with Rhodes. How much should they unload on Maria and Peggy? When was he supposed to tell them about Matt? How was he supposed to explain he was dating both of them?  
  
“Oh that can’t be good,” Peggy sighed.  
  
“We’ll have a talk later, alright Bambino?”  
  
Tony nodded, thankful his mother and godmother were understanding… for now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where Peggy and Maria find out the rest, and Tony is at peace

Tony and Rhodes took James to the library, Howard had a bunch of WWII books that James could use to try and jog his memory, or so he could read about himself if he wanted to.

“The WWII books are on the far wall, they were the only non-science books Howard ever bothered reading,” Tony said, gesturing to the far wall.

James looked at the stacks, his brow furrowed. 

“What if… school finds out?” James asked softly.

“MIT?”

“I… I don’ wanna stop goin’ to school. I’m not… I don’ wanna be him. I wanna be me,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it, I helped JARVIS fabricate your identity. You’re legit with MIT now,” Tony said with a shrug. 

“What?” Rhodes asked. 

“Transcripts, application, acceptance letter, he’s even the recipient of a full scholarship,” Tony said. 

“Tony,” James whispered. 

“Still under James Buchanan, didn’t want to insight mass panic when James Barnes rolled up to MIT- speaking of, Are you cool with James? Or do you want to go back to Bucky?”

“James,” he said quietly.

“Tony…”

“I have to speak with my mom. There’s a lot more I need to tell her. Anyone seen Matt? There’s a lot to tell him about,” Tony said. 

“I’ll find him,” Rhodes offered.

“I’m… gonna go garden,” James said. He didn’t want to read books about himself. What was the point? He wasn’t the person he used to be. 

 

“I didn’t think you gardened,” the voice belonged to Peggy Carter.

“Picked it up at school,” James told her. 

She sat down on the bench closest to where he was kneeling, his fingers working methodically on the weeds. 

“My orders were to find Tony, and I did, and then there weren’t any more orders so I picked my own classes. Never had the chance’ta do what I wanted,” he said.

“Sergeant,” she said quietly. 

“I always feel better after tending to plants. Weeding out the bad things… been used as an assassin since before I can remember and still I can get a flower to grow. Can’t be all bad, can I? Just gotta weed out the bad stuff,”

He sat back on his heels and looked up at her for a moment. 

“Tony said I could garden if I came for break, said Mrs. Stark wouldn’t mind,”

“I dare say she wouldn’t Sergeant, not with how dedicated you seem to your craft,” she said with a gentle laugh. 

James pushed himself to his feet.

“Tell me, Sergeant, how many friends did my nephew bring here?” Peggy asked. 

James grinned a rueful smile and offered out his arm. Peggy stood and linked her arm with his. 

“Just one more ma’am,”

 

Maria stared at her son for a long moment. Tony studied his hot chocolate like he was going to have a final exam on it. 

“ _ Both _ of them?”

“Yes,”

Tony took a sip of his coco and glanced at his mother. 

“I didn’t know about… Howard. I’m not sure I should… he was brainwashed. I just really like him, mamma. But I don’t want to make you upset,” 

“Oh bambino-” she fell silent as Rhodes and Matt walked into the kitchen. And then Peggy and James walked in. 

“Mamma, Aunt Peggy, this is Matt. Matt this is my Mom, Maria, and Aunt, Peggy,” Tony introduced. 

Rhodes nudged Matt in the direction of each woman as they were introduced. Matt smiled charmingly as only Matt could, and shook their hands.

“So he’s…?” Maria started.

“Yes,” Tony confirmed.

“He’s what?” Peggy asked, voice resigned.

Tony looked at James first, and then Matt and received a nod from each of them, permission to tell the two women everything.

“He’s my other boyfriend,”

For a few moments they were all silent.

“Other implies more than one,” Peggy stated.

Tony gestured to James. Peggy looked at James for a long time, and then Matt, and then finally looked at Tony. Her gaze was scrutinizing for one horrifying second Tony was afraid she was going to say something awful.

“With these two? Not surprising,” she said, gesturing to James and Matt.

Rhodes snorted.

“So. Matt was it?” Maria started.

“Matt Murdock, yes,” Matt said, his voice betraying his nerves.

Maria smiled kindly at him as she grabbed an apron.

“Tell me about yourself,”

They all set into motion to help Maria with dinner. She talked mostly with Matt and James, intent to learn more about her sons boyfriends.

Tony glanced at Rhodes for a moment as Peggy asked Matt something, he should have warned them that Maria and Peggy would grill them within an inch of their lives. Fortunately for Tony his boyfriends were amazing and they didn’t succumb under the pressure of the questions.

They ate dinner in the dining room, Tony between Matt and James. He knew the three of them had a lot to talk about, but for now he was content to eat dinner with the people he cared for most. For now, he was simply content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *continuously shows up months late with starbucks*

**Author's Note:**

> [you know the drill fam](http://www.lronhusbands.tumblr.com/)


End file.
